Psychological Classification of Autism Spectrum Disorders

Four groups of children with autism spectrum disorders (ASD) are identified, differing in the depth and essence of the child’s environment interaction disorders. Each group is characterized by common traits: specific manifestations of autism, communication skills, and opportunities and limitations in the development of mental functions. Despite qualitative differences, these groups are formed based on the one biological deficiency with various degrees of criticality. This deficiency reduces the child’s endurance for contact with the environment and blocks the actualization of vital adaptation objectives, which require increasing activity from a child. A child is inadequate to solve self-protection tasks, form individual selectivity, organize goal-directed behavior, and process social experience. This prevents the child from developing meaningful connections with the environment, pathologically distorts the relationship between the affect and the intellect, and blocks opportunities for cognitive development. The differences between the identified groups are caused by the accentuation of problems in solving one of the highlighted vital tasks, which determines the nature of maladaptation in general and the severity and essence of mental development disorders. The groups are not considered separate clinical forms; they are used as benchmarks for identifying critical points of adaptive activity disorders in autism. Their identification is crucial for a differentiated approach to psychological diagnostics of ASD, assessment of mental development dynamics in autism, and establishing the order of remedial therapy objectives.